15.3.1 Unix/Windows Emulation

The simplest way to write a program which runs on both Unix and Windows
is to use an emulation layer. This generally results in a program which
runs, but does not really feel like other programs for the operating
system in question.

For example, the Cygwin package, which is freely available from Cygnus
Solutions(33),
provides a Unix API which works on Windows. This permits Unix programs
to be compiled to run on Windows. It is even possible to run an X
server in the Cygwin environment, so graphical programs will work as
well, although they will not have the Windows look and feel. The Cygwin
package is discussed in more detail in see section 25. Using GNU Autotools with Cygnus Cygwin.

There are also commercial packages available to compile Unix programs
for Windows (e.g., Interix) and to compile Windows programs on Unix
(e.g., Bristol Technology).

The main disadvantage with using an emulation layer is that the
resulting programs have the wrong look and feel. They do not behave as
users expect, so they are awkward to use. This is generally not
acceptable for high quality programs.

This document was generated
by Gary V. Vaughan on February, 8 2006
using texi2html